THE BUZZ: In the latest edition of Iwata Asks—an interview series conducted by Nintendo global president Satoru Iwata—he talks to the team at HAL Laboratory about Kirby’s latest adventures for Wii, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land. In doing so, the team discusses the 11-year gap in home console Kirby games—which came about as a result of three different Kirby projects being started and then cancelled in mid-development.

First up was a new Kirby title (shown below) planned for the GameCube based around the idea of four-player simultaneous gameplay. About the project, team member Shigefumi Kawase says, “That was when I learned how difficult it is to make a game that is both multi-player and single-player.” Had it been released as planned, the game would have hit soon after Kirby Air Ride.

For the second game (shown below), it was planned as “an experiment with extremely challenging gameplay that placed Kirby in 3D space and allowed players to freely move around.” However, Kiwase says that the team wasn’t able to achieve a level of quality that they were hoping for, so the project was abandoned.

The final game (shown below) involved “an animated Kirby sort of like a pop-up book.” In regards to this title, Kiwase says that the Kirby team tried to renew the character’s copy abilities, as well as power them up in new ways.

EGM’s TAKE: Finding out about games that have been cancelled or abandoned is always a mixed blessing. On one hard, you almost don’t want to know about them, because they might be fantastic ideas that you then regret were never finished. On the other hand, it’s fascinating to get a look at the games that were never meant to be, learning at least a little about them instead of that information simply being lost to time.

Eric L. Patterson got started via self-publishing game-related fanzines in junior high, and now has one goal in life: making sure EGM has as much coverage of niche Japanese games as can realistically be crammed in. Eric’s also active in the gaming community on a personal level, being an outspoken voice on topics such as equality in gaming and consumer rights. Stalk Eric on Twitter: @Eric_EGM. Meet the rest of the crew.